7 replies to this topic

[Aims51]

So, my boyfriend and I are going to San Diego, CA for a vacation in December and although I am very excited I am also scared about my diet. I have a pretty serious gluten intolerance (may even be celiac but I went gluten free several months before my doctor actually found in necessary to do the tests, arrg)so I have to be very careful about where I eat. Are there any suggestions of where to eat (that is not too expensive)near the sea world/zoo area? What would you suggest for snacks at the zoo, sea world, and the wildlife park? Any help will be much appreciated! I am just so scared about the vacation and I want to make sure I am prepared.

[Darissa]

We went to SeaWorld last week in San Diego. We were pleasantly surprised, as we had been there last year as well. The managers are now trained in different Allergens, including gluten. You need to task for the managers at each of the restaurants. We really were inpressed with Alex at Calipso Bay. He was very knowledegable about Celiac. He got our food fresh out of the back, not off the line. We had BBQ chicken and it was so good! We also had ribs at ShipRex Cafe that were great. We are very sensitive to cross contact, and we did good the days we were there. We normally ate a big breakfast before going, brought in almonds/nuts/dried fruit for a filling snack, (tell the at the gate when they search your bag that you have gluten free snacks due to "allergy" and they let us in) and ate a late lunch. We normally ate dinner outside of park. I wrote seaworld before going, and this was their reply:

Dear Darissa, Thank you for your email. We do offer a pre-package meal which is a gluten free Marghertia pizza that is offered at all of our main meal facilities (Calypso Bay Smokehouse, Shipwreck Reef Café and Seaport Market) it is cooked and served to you in the un-open package and includes its own pizza cutter to avoid cross-contact. It is not on our menu boards but all you have to do is ask for it. We also do carry a variety of snack items (not meal items) throughout our park that are allergen friendly. Otherwise our supervisors and managers have been recently educated and trained in allergen management, in association with The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) to ensure your safety. Although none of them are experts, they can help. I urge you to ask for a supervisor when you arrive at any of our restaurants. They have an ingredient book that will be very informative to you. We also have restaurants that carry foods that are easily modified to meet many, if not all of the 8 major allergens. The restaurants are Shipwreck Reef Café, Calypso Bay Smokehouse and Seaport Market. You should also be informed that none of our meal facilities are free from cross contact. In order to ensure your meal is safe, please discuss the preparation with a supervisor. We urge you to visit our meal facilities during non peak times so that you can be efficiently served. Have a great day and a wonderful time here in our park.

Kind Regards,



Yvette

Culinary Operations

Sea World Parks & Entertainment

There is a Outback and PFChangs that we ate at off I-8 in Mission Valley. We ate there multiple times and did great at both locations. Good luck! We also ordered fries at Five Guys. We did stay in Homewood Suites by Hilton and had a kitchen, so some of our meals were prepared there.

In Old Town San Diego, we ate at http://www.casaguadalajara.com/ . They have seperate chips and salsa that are gluten free if you ask for them.They have a gluten free menu. We ate there one time, and got sick, but when we at there last week, we went at off hours, and it wasn't busy, and we did not get sick. One time we just ordered chips and salsa to go, and took them back to motel. That was great!

Good luck

[tgrahek]

I think you picked a good place to visit! I was in San Diego a couple years ago and had no trouble with gluten free as well as dairy free. They are very health oriented in San Diego. I don't recall the places I went but I do know that I used this great website to research ahead of time.
http://glutenfreeinsd.com/

Good luck!

[cap6]

San Diego is a wonderful place to visit and very gluten-free friendly!! The Warren Celiac Disease Foundation is in San Diego so that town is very friendly. Google "Gluten Free in San Diego" and you will come up with tons!

[Aims51]

Thank you so much for so much detail! I finally have convinced my boyfriend to go gluten free (to see if he has issues too) and so having such detail in your post will be wonderful to show to him. It is encouraging to see that most people regard San Diego as allergy friendly. This will be my first vacation as gluten free, but the information that you and others have given has made me feel more comfortable. Thank you!

[cap6]

Check the posting under Gluten Free San Diego from January 2012. There are a couple of places listed with positive comments from the posters.

She mentioned staying at the Hilton Bayfront and the Vela Restaurant.
The Yard House with A "gluten sensitive" menu.
the Edgewater Grill in Seaport Village
tHE Harbor House in Seaport Village
Albert's at the San Diego was only fair.

Pull up her posting for more details. i only copied the places she suggested.

[JillianLindsay]

I was there last year for a conference and had a good time I was staying in a hotel with a mini fridge (I recommend that if you can). I went down to a Whole Foods and stocked up and had a little stash of food at the hotel room for whenever I needed it. There's a Whole Foods on University ave. in Hillcrest, only 5 mins. from the Zoo. Kitty-corner to the Whole Foods is a very small restaurant/bar called Wine Encounter. They serve delicious, gourmet gluten-free pizza!! I highly recommend it, but go on a weeknight because on Fridays & Saturdays they are way too busy.

Also, someone suggested P.F. Chang's when I was there last year. Here's my old thread: http://www.celiac.co...y-in-san-diego/ If you like Asian cuisine, it is DELICIOUS and very celiac-friendly too It's at the Fashion Valley Mall, only a 10-minute drive up from the Zoo area. If you go on a weekend, I recommend making reservations online http://www.pfchangs.com/index.aspx you will get seated much quicker if there is a huge line-up.

I went to the Safari Park & Zoo and they were quite impressive! I didn't eat there, but it sounds like you already have some great suggestions for places to go, etc. Enjoy!

So, my boyfriend and I are going to San Diego, CA for a vacation in December and although I am very excited I am also scared about my diet. I have a pretty serious gluten intolerance (may even be celiac but I went gluten free several months before my doctor actually found in necessary to do the tests, arrg)so I have to be very careful about where I eat. Are there any suggestions of where to eat (that is not too expensive)near the sea world/zoo area? What would you suggest for snacks at the zoo, sea world, and the wildlife park? Any help will be much appreciated! I am just so scared about the vacation and I want to make sure I am prepared.

[anabananakins]

There's also a Chipotle near the Whole Foods in Hillcrest, Chipotle is always my favourite standby when travelling in the US. I was staying downtown and got the bus out there which was quite straightforward and I was half dead with jetlag (I'd flown into LAX from Australia that morning and taken the train down to San Diego!) If you have a car it'll be super easy.

San Diego was a really nice place to visit, enjoy your trip!